H-1B visa application to begin from April 2, premium process temporarily suspended
H-1B visa application to begin from April 2, premium process temporarily suspended. Petitions for H1-B visas will be accepted from April 2, a federal agency declared on Wednesday. The suspension of premium processing of all H-1B petitions, which are subject to the annual caps, was also announced by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers that needs theoretical or technical expertise. Thousands of employees are hired each year from India and China by technical companies in the USA. The H-1B petition filing is for the fiscal year 2019 beginning October 1, 2018. The suspension of premium processing of all H-1B petitions which are subject to the annual caps is expected to last until September 10, 2018. During this time, the USCIS said it will continue to accept premium processing requests for H-1B petitions that are not subject to the fiscal 2019 cap. “We will notify the public before resuming premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions or making any other premium processing updates,” it said. At the same time, the USCIS said while premium processing is suspended, a petitioner may submit a request to expedite an FY 2019 cap-subject H-1B petition if it meets the expedited criteria. By temporarily suspending premium processing, the USCIS said it will be able to process long-pending petitions. As an H-1B non-immigrant, the applicant may be admitted for a period of up to three years. The time period may be extended, but not beyond a total of six years in normal case, with a few exceptions of course. -PTC News
